More details on the Vader ROTJ saber - Please archive

[Oohyeah KL]

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lonepigeon wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>
The primary proof FOR the real Graflex bottom is the slot visible in the gap in the band. That would have to be explained before I'd consider a replacement bottom.
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That's a very good point. That would be the clincher for me.

 

[steveday72]

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Brevin Din-Shay wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>

Steve: Keep up the awesome work, man! What an asset you are in this thread!

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Thanks Brevin. I can't resist a mass...er..good debate

Today I've been taking measurements from my Graflex using digital calipers and building a model of it in a 3D program - along with a model of the activator switch, built using scaled drawings.

I'll be able to finish it up tomorrow and hope that it will help us piece things together and maybe understand how the two halves fit together.

The model of the momentary switch housing will also come in handy when trying to track the real thing down, as I can add on the parts that would normally be there (such as in that great image that Darth Saber found).

...

Now, I've been thinking and have a theory on the bottom disc.

The Linhoff mount is slightly smaller than the diameter of the tube, which means that it doesn't overlap the edges at all. So if the saber is dropped bottom first (and this one looks more like it was run over by a tank), the Linhoff mount exherts the full force of the impact directly onto the disc itself.

Do this a few times and I'm sure it could unseat an original Graflex bottom plate into it's tube.

With the mess that we see in these (great) photos, we really can't tell if that's an original Graflex bottom plate or some kind of plumbers hole plug - but what we can see is that it's domed inwards, just as though it's been dropped bottom first and the Linhoff has dented it in again.

The way the bottom disc overlaps the tube slightly, then has a bevelled edge on the outside, makes me think it's not the original Graflex plate - unless, it's bashed in about half an inch and the putty is there to pack out the gap.

...

I'm amazed at some of the photos you have Brevin. If only someone took such clear ones of Fett's ESB rifle.

Steve

 

[steveday72]

I've been looking at the images of the D-ring in photoshop - color correcting them, zooming in, adjusting the curves etc.

They don't appear to be steel at all, as the nicks, scratches and dents are the same color as the surface, even on the deep scrape that has taken quite a chunk off.

Also, there is no pitting like you normally see when steel turns this color from rusting.

From the overall color, it could be made from brass, but I think that it's more than likely made from some heavy gauge copper wire.

This would explain the pinkish tint to it and also the way that on some of the nicks, the metal has actually been deformed, which you'd see with a relatively soft metal like copper.

Steve

 

[Brevin Din-Shay]

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steveday72 wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>
I'm amazed at some of the photos you have Brevin.
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Hey Steve,

I'm still mulling over the enormous wealth of info that's been posted since I was last here...but I wanted to make this very clear.

About 85 percent of the pics I have (and currently, every one used in this thread edit by myself...end edit) were taken by Wada Yado, my mentor and, if I may be so bold, the greatest Vader ROTJ saber builder/student/technician to date.

Just had to say that!

I'll get back to the other issues soon...boy, talk about a saber that creates more probs than it solves!

(I appreciate what you said, though, and I meant what I said! Your work in this thread has been invaluable.)

 

[TallDarkandDisfigured]

My freakin head is gonna explode!!
You guys a crazy. By the time this thread is done the saber will be made from cheese and peanut butter.

THe pics are interesting though. I noticed that the endcap edges are uneven too. It looks like a replacment may have been welded in. But since I'm too damn lazy to read 5 pages I'm sure you guys picked up on that.


back to the pics for me...

 

[Brevin Din-Shay]

Wow!!! I knew this was a killer pic, but after KL enlarged it, I noticed something ELSE new!!!

The original purpose for posting this pic was for Dave Carty to see the flat-head screw. On a side note, it's another good shot for DS to look at.

BUT...hey! LOOK AT THAT HOLE IN THE CENTER OF THE DOOR LATCH!

As much as I've studied this saber, it never ceases to amaze me how much there is to still learn about it.


Dan...don't worry, my head will explode before yours.

 

[Darf Vader]

THOSE DAMN GRIPS!!!!

What's the consensus? Why is everyone avoiding this discussion?

 

[Brevin Din-Shay]

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Darf Vader wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>
THOSE DAMN GRIPS!!!!

What's the consensus? Why is everyone avoiding this discussion?
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Coming soon, Darf! This thread went into a tailspin, so I got sidetracked personally!

 

[TallDarkandDisfigured]

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Brevin Din-Shay wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>

Dan...don't worry, my head will explode before yours.

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OK well if your head explodes I'm gonna have to stop reading then.

 

[Brevin Din-Shay]

Alrighty...let's go ahead and talk GRIPS.

(At the moment, that's all I can take in!)


Early on in the thread, I said that I totally disagreed with the notion that they were metal, or specifically T-track. Well, I still don't believe they are T-track...but...

The chipping indicates that they are some sort of hard substance. Would you all agree on that? Simple science shows how the difference in chipping looks on hard and soft surfaces, and I really think that this chipping is a "hard surface" scenario.


Even if they were resin grips, I don't think the chipping would be the same. It's more of a peeling look, judging from everything I've been exposed to.


So then, what to make of this? Is it a "dead horse?" No, Ken...sorry, not on this topic! It's another one of those cursed "can of worms!"

(Before this thread is dead, I TRULY HOPE that we can put some of these issues to bed once and for all...but we all know how those go, also.

)

 

[DARTH SABER]

Yes!!! That white tubing peaking out from under the silver button and out of the switch hole is what I was talking about way back on page 2 or 3, I dont know if anyone knew what I was talking about but thats it....Thats why I was asking if the original used a PVC pipe to attach the bottom and top half, I thought it kinda looked like a PVC pipe stiking out under the silver button...

Well, Im still sticking with the threaded screw theory in the control box, and thats how I made it on my hardware ROTJ Vader saber...

 

[fried mon calamari]

Ok,

Here's my opinions (I know..opinions are like....)

The bulb socket...
IMHO, they used the middle section of the original Graflex socket (ie. the back part of the recharge/synch sockets). But the front was something else( a piece of plumbing tube maybe). You can definitely see where they glued/epoxied it to the bulb piece here..

I also agree that the lower ( behind the "tire valve") part has a similar reflection as the lower tube half.

As far as the grips go....
Thsi shot makes me think that the grips are not metal. They way the grips have been nicked and cut doesn't seem like metal, but more like a hard plastic material.

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Brevin Din-Shay wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>
Fried Mon Cal: You hit on yet another big point when it comes to this saber. I don't think that's tape you're seeing by the screw (I assume you mean the one above the port plug and under the shroud, right?). Instead, it looks solid!
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Actually, I was refering to the "screws" on the control box

.

 

[Crimsonnaire]

Does anyone have a better shot of the gap pointed out by the red arrow in this picture? I think if we can have a closer look at this little detail, we might be able to take a few steps forward.

 

[DARTH SABER]

Ok heres my take on some of the things discussed so far...

-The grips- I believe the grips are made of plastic, mainly because of the nicks on it...if it were metal and something were to nick it would mean that it would have a considerable amount of force behind it hence not only nicking it but chipping the paint off as well and as we can see there are nicks but without chipping paint...Try denting or nicking a painted peice of metal without chipping the paint off and youll notice its difficult to do.

-The bottom shell- has a brownish yellowish blotchiness which I have seen before when glue adhesives residues have been left behind...Ive also seen it when torching soldering flux on metal.

-the screw heads on the control box look like their covered with tape but also look like they might be saturated by numerous coats of paint...

Now, Im wondering if the screws in the control box might have been screwed into the "L" slot of the GRaflex tube???
Meaning that the threads on the stem of the screws caught on the edges of the "L" slot to hold the control box in place...
Obviously though we can see that the rear screw must have come undone from the hole which is why its exposed on the Graflex body, but Im just saying that maybe when the box was centered on the tube it was held on by the threaded screws teeth catching onto the "L" slot edges..

 

[Crimsonnaire]

You know, somebody should just go to the place where this prop is being displayed, and just sacrifice their crime-free record for the prop community, and break the glass and examine the prop as much as possible before the security you down.

 

[DARTH SABER]

well if your going to go that far, just break the glass grab it and haul ass!!

 

[Darf Vader]

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Imperious825 wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>
You know, somebody should just go to the place where this prop is being displayed, and just sacrifice their crime-free record for the prop community, and break the glass and examine the prop as much as possible before the security you down.

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Are you volunteering?

I'll bail you out so you can describe what the saber was like, and then off to prison you go.

 

[Brevin Din-Shay]

Sorry...I was lurking, and you guys cracked me up!

If that's the only way to solvng this prop, well, we're all in trouble!

G'night, for real!

 

[Crimsonnaire]

10 o'clock news headline: "Group of five criminals dressed in black and carrying over $5,000.00 of equipment break into a museum and steals...darth vader's lightsaber."

 

[DARTH SABER]

I can see Imperious now, with a scene right out of Mission Impossible as he's being lowered on a wire while wearing a black jumpsuit.....and pink sneakers!

(Dont ask me why the "Pink sneakers", thats just the way I imagined Imperious on his mission...)